Argthtjtr

I'm publishing Platform Events using APEX Code
EventBus.publish method and consuming the events in backend Java app using EventListener.

Problem

All the published events remains in EventBus and whenever my consumer Java app restarts, listener is receiving all the previously published events (in the past 24 hrs?, not sure about the timing though).

Is there any way to clear the events published to EventBus after some set interval? I've gone through the Platform Events documentation and couldn't find any help to tackle this problem.

Any pointer would be helpful

This is a feature called Event Durability. It is expected that the client retains the last replayId it has seen, and pass this in to the streaming handshake to resume where they left off. There's no way to clear this early and yet provide durability. The events do drop off after 24 hours. You will need to modify your code to remember the last replayId.

You cannot delete Platform Event records. This is mentioned in the documentation:

Unlike custom objects, you can’t update or delete event records.

The only way you can delete event records is by deleting its definition altogether:

When you delete a platform event definition, it’s permanently deleted.